A method, system, and apparatus for protecting personal privacy in a wireless local area network. In particular, the method, system, and apparatus provide wireless communication services that control the dissemination of personal data in the wireless local area network.
Rapid advancements in wireless communication and electronic commerce technologies have increased the number of users or users who have access to a mobile or wireless device to access electronic services. Since each transaction requires the transfer of information concerning a user, privacy issues are a growing concern for electronic commerce vendors. Survival in a competitive marketplace demands that vendors incorporate mechanisms for protecting the dissemination of the user""s personal information into the services that they offer.
The demand for personal communication services, in particular wireless communication services, have increased in recent years. Furthermore, services mainly rely on mobile telephony and personal digital assistants (xe2x80x9cPDAsxe2x80x9d) to provide a user with instant access to the Internet. Future personal wireless communication systems such as those studied by the Ubiquitous Communications (xe2x80x9cUbicomxe2x80x9d) program will enable the exchange of visual information between mobile users that will exceed the web browsing and extended capabilities of contemporary mobile telephones. As networked computing resources are becoming more ubiquitous, the Ubicom program envisions personal wearable systems that process information from sensors, combines the result with information from other sources, and presents the output to the user in an audio/visual format. A Ubicom terminal includes a processor that requires low power consumption, low latency, and maintains a specified quality of service.
Bluetooth is a global de facto standard for wireless connectivity, which is based on a low-cost, short-range radio link. When two Bluetooth devices are within a range of ten meters, they can establish a connection together using a radio-based link. As an example, a laptop computer enabled with Bluetooth can send information to a printer in the next room, or a microwave oven can send a message to a mobile phone to announce that that a meal is ready. Bluetooth is quickly becoming accepted as the standard in mobile phones, personal computers, laptops and other electronic devices that enables users to share information, synchronize data, access the Internet, integrate with local area networks or actuate electromechanical devices such as unlocking a car door. Bluetooth replaces the cables that connect various digital devices. An example is a headset for a mobile phone that does not require a cable because it allows calls to be transmitted wirelessly to the earpiece. Bluetooth enables mobile imaging by allowing a PDA to receive images taken on a Bluetooth equipped digital camera. In such an application, the user can add a few lines of text and forward the received photograph to another Bluetooth-enabled device, where it can be viewed, printed or saved on a CD-ROM. Additional discussion of Bluetooth is provided in the book by Brent A. Miller et al., entitled xe2x80x9cBluetooth Revealedxe2x80x9d, published by Prentice Hall PTR, 2001.
Terminals such as the Ubicom need to support certain features required by the service providers to be able to provide sufficient privacy-enabled personalized services. Also, the terminals need to be able to communicate with different services. Prior art terminals:
Cannot control the level of anonymity for the user;
Do not take advantage of profiles stored on the terminal;
Do not provide feedback about the level of privacy selected; and
Do not provide for secure transmission of data.
Thus, there is a need for a method, system, and apparatus for protecting personal privacy in a wireless local area network using a framework to monitor communications at both the terminal and the service. The privacy services ensure that a mobile or Ubicom environment will protect personal information communicated in the environment. The method, system, and apparatus that addresses this need will enhance the usefulness of a mobile device for location based privacy-enabled personalized services. The method, system, and apparatus for protecting personal privacy in a wireless local area network disclosed herein address this need.
A method, system, and apparatus for protecting personal privacy in a wireless local area network using a framework at both the terminal and the service in the wireless local area network. The method, system, and apparatus disclosed herein allows the owner of a shopping center premises and the owners of the businesses that rent space from the premises owner to quickly adopt new user-oriented business models that comply with user needs for personalized electronic services. The method, system, and apparatus also maintains an enhanced privacy level, and utilize wireless terminals that contain user profile data and technology environments like Bluetooth wireless local area network (xe2x80x9cWLANxe2x80x9d) and mobile Internet appliances. The invention can bring significant savings to the business model for the premises or business owner because they do not need to implement a privacy intrusion solution to protect wireless electronic commerce transactions. In addition, the invention allows the premises or business owner to personalize their marketing efforts and collect user behavior profiles.
The invention disclosed herein is a Ubicom Terminal Framework (xe2x80x9cUTFxe2x80x9d) that provides user profiling, user interface, and user privacy services to a Ubicom terminal or wireless Internet service upon request from the service. The service negotiation is handled through a UTF Connector at both the Ubicom terminal and the service. The UTF monitors all information that the Ubicom terminal reveals to the service and notifies the user when a potential privacy risk may occur. When such a case occurs, the UTF also presents a set of choices to the user, so that he can define a desired privacy level for the situation.
The invention also includes service components that interpret the desired privacy level and parameters of each user and personalizes the service accordingly. The service components also include functionality to request and handle user data from the Ubicom terminal that comply with the user""s desired Privacy level and settings and still can be used for a Ubicom Customer Relationship Management (xe2x80x9cUbiCRMxe2x80x9d) purpose.
The invention also contemplates the use of a privacy certificate and certification model during the handling and processing of user profile data. In addition, the user can utilize a trusted third party to enforce his privacy settings in the execution of the service and UbiCRM. Also, the service provider would most likely benefit from applying for a privacy certificate in order to gain initial or additional user trust.